Check out your closet, mixed with summer and cold weather skirts and dresses. Admit it, you've got your long-sleeved dresses on one side ready for winter and the rest out of sight and out of mind waiting for the sun. But is that really necessary? Is spending a bunch of dough to update your winter wardrobe really important, when there's an easy (not to mention fun) way to update every leg-bearing piece hanging in your closet? Our answer is, unequivocally, no! And then no again.

You can make even some of your most vintage frocks look fresh and new by updating the hosiery in your drawers. And by adding a sweater or cardigan, you can bring those "summer" skirts into winter. Patterned tights and stockings aren't for little girls, as you'll see in this slideshow, they can be quite grown up and sexy. They're the perfect addition to any mostly-black look, adding color or texture where there was none before. And they can get you excited about putting on the same old, same old.

So cover up those gams in something other than simple black opaque tights and give a patterned or colored pair a whirl. Just be careful, you might stop traffic in some of the lacier varieties, and a few pairs are definitely NSFW, but are more than safe for your nighttime adventures.

A contributing writer to theFashionSpot, Marisa has penned articles and features in over a dozen online and print publications. She's worked as fashion critic and creative director for papierdoll.com, been the managing editor for Caribbean-based Ocean Style Magazine, and worked with Set Magazine, a luxury lifestyle magazine based in Zurich, as a contributing editor. She splits her time between New York, Los Angeles and her hometown as a freelance fashion and cultural copywriter, editor and journalist. You can find out more at her site marisaswanson.com and follow her on Twitter @mraswan.